Fleas
by InkDragons
Summary: To think, it all started with a particularly bad case of fleas. Shino x Hana Inuzuka Fluff, or as much as Shino will ever participate in fluff.


**Disclaimer: sadly, I still don't own Shino, Hana or Kiba. Or anyone else from Naruto for that matter.**

Fleas

Shino was sorely tempted not to answer the door. It was-a quick glance at the clock hanging on the wall-not even nine in the morning, and someone was banging on his front door as if they were trying to break it down. He could pretend to be asleep, after all, it was his first day off in weeks, he deserved some time to sleep in. Another loud bang stopped that thought. Fearing for the safety of his door, solid oak or not, Shino resigned himself to having to get up and actually speak to someone.

He swung open the door, finding the last person he expected. His look of shock and rapid, confused blinking were hidden by his high collar and shades, respectively. Inuzuka Hana was standing on his front step, and he had never seen her look less composed. The usually laid back dog-nin was a mess. Her dark hair was tangled and escaping its ponytail, her cheeks were flushed with some emotion to the point he almost couldn't see the crimson fang marks, and angry red scratches covered almost every inch of exposed skin. Furthermore, her dogs were nowhere to be found. For an Inuzuka, that was downright ridiculous.

"I need your help," she told him in a frustrated and desperate tone.

"With what exactly?" Shino asked, although he was beginning to have an idea as Hana scratched at her arm madly. He reached out and gently grabbed her wrist, putting a stop to her furious clawing. "You were making yourself bleed," he explained. Hana nodded and shoved her hands into her pockets to try to control herself. "Now, what do you need my assistance with?"

Hana flushed further, as if embarrassed to confess, but she was clearly desperate if she had come to her little brother's friend for help. "We're having a bit of a flea problem. At first it was funny when it was just Akamaru, but then the triplets got them. And once our dogs have them, it's only a matter of time before we get them."

Shino nodded. If Hana's three dogs were infested as much as Akamaru was, it made sense for Hana to have left them at home. "I would have thought you'd know how to deal with fleas, if anyone would."

Konoha's best veterinary medic and heir to her clan pinned him with a harsh glare. "I usually do. But nothing's working. I've tried everything I can think of, but the damn things won't go away! I swear, it's as if they're on a mission to make my family's lives a living hell!" She took a deep breath, reminding herself that cursing each and every flea in Fire country in front of an Aburame was not a good idea. "I was hoping you'd be able to help."

It was a reasonable assumption. The Aburames were bug users and their affinity for insects allowed them a fair amount of influence over any insect, including fleas. It also helped that Shino was at least partly responsible for this particular infestation. He had given them to Akamaru after suffering an especially vicious prank at the hands of Kiba. Of course, Hana had no way of knowing that. Shino felt confident she would have attacked him by now if she knew.

"I can help," Shino said. He waved a hand, and Hana squirmed as little black dots started crawling out of her hair, her clothes, and off of her skin. The fleas marched down to her feet before departing and disappearing into the grass. The relief she felt was immediately evident, but she still itched.

"Follow me," he said, stepping back into his house. She hesitated a moment. Shino was a very private person, and to her knowledge, only his family and his teammates had been allowed in his home since he moved in. And yet, Shino was holding the door open for her and looking at her expectantly. Shrugging, Hana stepped through the doorway into his home.

The front room was cozy, with an overstuffed armchair next to an overflowing bookcase. A couch was pushed up against the other wall, but what really held Hana's attention was the clutter. Glass terrariums were everywhere, filled with all manner of insects. Kami, that one was as big as her hand!

Shino returned from deeper inside the house to find Hana staring at the assassin beetles. He expected her to be disgusted, but she just looked at them with curiosity. She moved onto another habitat, admiring the brightly colored Japanese beetles within. "Hana?" She looked up, a small smile on her face. He held up a small glass jar of salve. "This should help with the itching." Hana all but snatched the jar from his hand, quickly applying it to the worst of the bites.

"Bring the dogs and Kiba over later today and I'll help them, too." To Shino's surprise, Hana pulled him to her for a quick hug. "Thanks, Shino! You're the best!" The hug was over before Shino had time to respond. She let him go, waving as she left his house, no doubt to fetch the dogs. Shino was frozen where he stood, the bugs within him buzzing in stunned excitement.

Hana, _Inuzuka_ Hana, had _hugged_ him. When he was younger, just starting to spend time with Kiba and Hinata, and therefore their families, Shino would have killed for that. He first saw Hana when she had shown up at the training ground to drag her little brother off by his ear. Apparently, Kiba had told her he would be home by one, and she had lost her patience at seven. Shino had been absolutely smitten, and had suggested they train at Kiba's house the next day.

His teammates sometimes teased him for his apparent lack of emotion. At one point, Kiba had joked that he couldn't wait for Shino to actually like someone, just so he could see him get all nervous and flustered. Shino had responded that he already liked someone, and was just good at hiding it. Kiba had spent the next week trying to determine which girl in their class Shino liked. Luckily, Kiba had never even considered his older sister as an option. After a while, Kiba declared that Shino must have been lying, because he acted exactly the same around every girl, so unless he was in love with all of them, he didn't like anyone.

But they were all older now. Shino was almost a jonin, for Kami's sake. He was beyond childhood crushes. Completely. There was simply no way he still felt that way for his teammate's older sister. There was no way that her ten second hug had made him blush beneath his high collar, and he certainly wasn't still blushing. The only reason he was looking forward to having the Inuzuka's and their dogs over was because he liked helping people and he would get more insects for his collection. It had nothing to do with the fact that he would get to see Hana again.

 **AN:** So I was clicking around on Deviantart, and I found some pics with Hana and Shino. I basically went, "how did that happen?" This was my attempt to answer the question. Childhood crushes and fleas. I actually wrote Dogs in the Bed after this, but I am weird when it comes to updates. And I blame the hug and 'you're the best' on being really, really relieved the fleas are gone.


End file.
